Although I've named this page my Lick family, I don't have any records to support the evidence of proof, to show that my Lick ancestors came from from this region of Europe. But, the wife of William Lick, Auguste Schulz, was most definitely, from Posen. Or it may be more accurate to say from Sycyn, in the Oborniki  district of what is now called Poland. At the time Auguste immigrated to the states, where she lived was part of the Kingdom of Prussia, Germany.

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My Lick ancestry comes to me through my great grandmother Emma Bertha Lick. Emma was the daughter of Johan Friederich William Lick (Lüeck) and Friedrike Auguste Schulz. Emma was born on 12 November 1885 in Cannon City, Rice County, Minnesota. She was the first born child of 12. On 4 November 1913, Emma married Johan Christian Boevers in Wheeling Township. Emma and John had only one child that survived to adulthood, and that was my grandmother, Malinda Boevers.

Johan Friederich William Lick (Lüeck), Emma’s father, was supposedly born in Posen, Germany and up until a couple of years ago I thought I knew who his parents were, but at this time I am not so sure. There is a web site called The Posen Project and on that site I found a marriage record for Gottlieb Lueck and Wilhelmine Schulz nee Gumlow. Well, up until that moment in time, I knew William’s father was Gottlieb Lick and his mother was Minnie. Please keep in mind that Lick is the anglicized name of Lueck. In the US and State of Minnesota records Minnie is shown to be somewhat older then Gottlieb. Gottlieb’s age in this record is 28 and Wilhelmine’s is 42 which holds true with what information I have on this family. So when I found this marriage record in the index, I really started to wonder who his parents really were. Heres why: The marriage record states that Wilhelmine is divorced and the marriage between Gottlieb and Wilhelmine was in 1865. My ancestor, William Lick, was reportedly born in 1861. So with the divorce and the date of their marriage I don’t believe Gottlieb is William’s father. So before, I was hoping to find a birth record for William, but now it has become imperative that I find his birth record. The marriage in question took place at the Protestant church in the parish of Schwersenz which is just northeast of the city of Posen. Hopefully, the father of the Johan Friederich William will be in his baptism record.

Right after I found this record, I felt that I recognized the name Wilhelmine Gumlow. I went to my genealogy program and I searched the surname Gumlow and in my files I actually have a Wilhelmine Gumptow. Do you think there may be a connection here? Wilhelmine was married to a Christian Schulz from the village of Samter in Posen, Germany. There isn’t a marriage record for Christian and Wilhelmine from Samter, but there is a birth record for their son August Frederick Schulz born in 1847. Is this the same Wilhelmine? I guess only time and more research will tell. 

Friedrike Auguste Schulz was born in Posen, Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1881. The District of New York, Port of New York ship registry shows that the German ship S.S. Silesia, captained by A. Albers, arrived at the port of New York on 6 June 1881. The ship was out of Hamburg and Le Havre. Among its passengers was Agusta Schultz age 18. Agusta was traveling with Gottlieb Fechner age 48 and a workman, Emilia Fechner age 34, and the following children: Hulda age 14, Otto age 8, Albert age 5, Helena age 3 and Alvina 6 months. They were all listed as being from Prussia. Emilia Fechner is Auguste Schulz’s sister. 

Friedrike Auguste Schulz and Johann Friederich Wilhelm Lick were married on 25 January 1885 in Faribault, Rice County, Minnesota. William and Augusta were farmers in the Faribault area and had a total of 12 children. Augusta had two sisters and one half sister who immigrated to the United Sates. All of them settled in Minnesota.

Through my research I have traced this branch of my family tree to the early 1800’s. They are from the Posen region of Germany, which is now in Poland. This line is my least researched line. I wouldn’t necessarily call it a brick wall, but it has presented some complications, for instance, not knowing where the Lüeck family originated or if I even want to find out that my ancestry isn’t Lick but Schulz. Do I wanna open that can of worms? I need to go back and review the church records for the parish that the Schulz family lived in to see if I can recover more information.

Here is my Lick branch in pictures and below the pictures is a brief outline of this family’s ancestry starting with my great grandmother Emma Lick.